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Question about APAP pressure

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paulbkus +0 points · over 1 year ago Original Poster

Hi, Everyone, I started 2 weeks ago with Resmed AirSense 11. I set it to APAP mode with pressure range 4-10 (sleep study recommended range). I noticed that when I wakeup in the morning (or at night) pressure is always 10 (or very close, like 9.9). It was suspicious to me that machine always operates at the upper range, so, I decided to use it during the day, while working. After 30 mins of use, when I was sitting in front of my computer, pressure jumped from 4 to 7, after that to 7.7, dropped to 6.5 and was fluctuating in that range. Why is this happening? I was not sleeping at the moment and definitely did not have any AHI being awake during the day. Is this machine malfunction?

Thank You!

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CharmingSalmonSeaLion +0 points · over 1 year ago

APAPs will raised pressure in response to, inter alia, significant leaks. Were you experiencing a mouth or mask leak of any kind?

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Sierra +0 points · over 1 year ago Sleep Patron

The only real way to figure out what is going on is to download OSCAR for your PC or Mac and then use a SD card reader to transfer your detailed sleep data to OSCAR. It is possible your machine is not set up for the correct pressure range. How is your AHI results? In general a 4 cm minimum pressure is a bit on the low side and can be difficult to get to sleep with, until the machine increases pressure in Auto and starts to raise pressure.

With OSCAR you can see what your machine is doing with pressure while you are sleeping, and how much of the time it is at maximum. You can also see when you are having apnea events. If obstructive apnea events are happening while you are at max pressure it suggests your pressure setting may not be optimum.

A machine malfunction is possible but not likely. Anytime you hold your breath or not take a breath for 10 seconds it will record an apnea event. OSCAR logs these events at the exact time and pressure they occur.

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OSAAnnie +0 points · over 1 year ago

I created a forum account for the same issue. Got the same machine a week ago and am having the same problem. I'm pulling it off in my sleep but even the hour or two I am getting in is enough to cause facial pain and headaches from the auto increase to higher settings. Am scheduled to talk with my pulmonologist next week since the DME techs have not been able to successfully troubleshoot.

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Sierra +0 points · over 1 year ago Sleep Patron

Same response as the one I made above. It would be worthwhile downloading OSCAR to see what is really happening. What is your AHI? If it is significant, then you are probably having apnea events which is causing the pressure to increase. But, with OSCAR you will know for sure. Unless the pulmonologist looks at the detailed data on the SD card from the machine they will be just guessing as to what the issue might be.

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